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Check Out the First Forty Minutes of Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Deus Ex: Human Revolution has had a leaked preview build available online for a few weeks now, letting people try the game out ahead of its release It’s not the whole game—just the opening sections—and as such, publishers Square Enix have been seemingly cool with people downloading it and giving it a try. If you…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 20, 2011 -
Artsy Production Firm iam8bit Struck E3 With Stealth and Swag
Multi-media collective iam8bit knows how to advertise itself: slyly, theatrically and with neat, removable swag. iam8bit does a bit of everything — they host art exhibitions and publish books, produce T-shirts and tchotchkes, and — for the right client — provide marketing and creative consultation. In the words of their online manifesto, they’re in the…
By Drew Cohen Published June 17, 2011 -
Tomb Raider Hopes to Recreate a Gaming Icon
Don’t think of Tomb Raider as an origin story, think of it instead as a sort of metaphorical creation myth, a game that won’t redefine just who Lara Croft is, but also the world in which she exists. Gone not only is her over-sexualized physique, two guns and ponytail, but also her past, her way…
By Brian Crecente Published June 16, 2011 -
Hitman Absolution Promises an Evolution in Agent 47 Kills, Skills and Personality
The most interesting thing about Hitman Absolution isn’t its new disguises or ways of killing people with a bit of cord. It’s not the decision to open the historically stealthy game up to a bit of action gameplay. It’s the insight the game’s mechanics are meant to give us into a character we’ve long controlled…
By Brian Crecente Published June 14, 2011 -
Heroes of Ruin Is Rich With Ideas, Shorter on Atmosphere
Heroes of Ruin is a deft, well-implemented multiplayer-RPG—but right now it’s lacking in distinctive character. The title, published by Square Enix and developed by n-Space, the team behind the GameCube action-adventure title Geist, is due to launch on the Nintendo 3DS in early 2012. So far, our exposure to the Heroes has mostly been limited…
By Drew Cohen Published June 13, 2011 -
Hitman Absolution In One Sexy Brochure
Hitman Absolution was one of many of the games I saw at E3 that impressed me not only with its new take on an old formula, but in the new story it was trying to tell and the character it was trying to refresh. Here’s a look at the sleek brochure the IO Interactive was…
By Brian Crecente Published June 13, 2011 -
Professor Layton Studio Making Gundam Game
Makes sense! Especially seeing how Layton designer Akihiro Hino is penning the story for new Gundam series, Gundam Age. His studio, Level-5, is also working on a new Gundam RPG for unspecified hardware. Gundam Age will encompass a new anime series, toys, plastic models, a plastic figure based in-store game, and a card-based arcade game…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 13, 2011 -
Japan’s Video Game Decline Is “Humiliating”
At the 2009 Tokyo Game Show, game designer Keiji Inafune, then at Capcom, said the Japanese game industry was “finished”. At this year’s E3, one Square Enix exec seemed to realize just that. On the way to an E3 dinner, Square Enix exec Kouji Taguchi tweeted that because Square Enix acquired Eidos, it was able…
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 10, 2011 -
Who Knew the New Final Fantasy Trailer Was This Sexy?
Not me! One Japanese blog did, pointing how just how erotic Serah Farron is in the trailer Final Fantasy XIII-2. The result is a catalogue of cleavage and panty glimpses. The eroticism isn’t heavy handed or gratuitous, but it’s there. チラシの裏でゲーム鈍報:『ファイナルファンタジー13-2』セラがさらにエロくなって登場！パンチラもあり！ [チラシの裏でゲーム鈍報]
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 8, 2011 -
Final Fantasy XIII-2 Has Transforming Moogles, Recruitable Monsters and Rap
I’ve always thought that Final Fantasy XIII didn’t get a fair shake. Admittedly, it was an overwhelmingly linear journey—player agency wasn’t topmost among the priorities incorporated into its development. But it was an extraordinarily intentional game; nothing about it ever felt accidental or unplanned. It did a few things, but it did them exceedingly well:…
By Drew Cohen Published June 8, 2011 -
Tomb Raider’s E3 Screens Are Beating This Poor Woman to Death
You know what’s so appealing about this new Tomb Raider? The vulnerability. So many games turn you into a superhero that it’s refreshing to see one where breaking bones and bleeding look as dangerous as it should be. Brian’s had a play of the game, and walked away very, very impressed
By Luke Plunkett Published June 7, 2011 -
Agent 47 is One Very Pissed-Off Bald Man in These Hitman: Absolution Screens
Didn’t we just post Hitman: Absolution screens yesterday? Sure we did, but they weren’t all of the new Hitman: Absolution screens, and we’re all about getting the job done, just like Agent 47.
By Mike Fahey Published June 7, 2011 -
The Reinvention of Lara Croft
No Tomb Raider reboot has been as substantial, none could be as meaningful. In delivering to gamers a young, inexperienced Lara Croft, Crystal Dynamics doesn’t seek to just reboot the series, but to make it’s heroine into something we as gamers connect with emotionally. It is a gamble, but when that looks like it will…
By Brian Crecente Published June 7, 2011 -
Final Fantasy XIII-2’s New Trailer Brings the Long Swords to E3 2011
There’s been precious few Japanese games on show at this year’s E3 thus far. Let’s remedy that, then, with a longer, more productive trailer for upcoming RPG Final Fantasy XIII-2 than we saw the other day
By Luke Plunkett Published June 6, 2011 -
Hitman: Absolution‘s First Screens Look Like This
Not one screen, but two. Until now, we’ve only had 27 seconds of a teaser, but here are apparently Hitman: Absolution‘s first in-game screens. Slated for a 2012 release, multiplatform Hitman: Absolution is the fifth Hitman title. The latest screenshots for Hitman: Absolution screens sneak in [Eurogamer via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
By Brian Ashcraft Published June 6, 2011 -
Deus Ex’s Best “Trailers” Yet
Some background: a preview build of the new Deus Ex game leaked onto torrent sites last week. So people out there, in the wild, are playing the early part of the game. And they’re doing a better job marketing it than Square Enix could ever hope. Not that Square Enix has done a bad job;…
By Luke Plunkett Published June 6, 2011 -
Check Out Square Enix’s Sleek and Sexy Master Chief Makeover
Square Enix Products has produced some lovely action figures in its Halo: Reach Play Arts Kai series. Now the company commemorates the tenth anniversary of the Halo franchise with a re-envisioned version of Master Chief and a stunning Spartan Mark V. Part of the new Halo: Combat Evolved Play Arts Kai series, the new Master…
By Mike Fahey Published June 3, 2011
